St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-10-29
THOSE "REBEL FLAGS"
There Was Dozen of Them and
Thousands of the Stars and
StripeS,

There Was a Dozen of Them and
Thousands of the Stars and
Stripes.
Special to the Globe.
CINCINNATI, Oct. 2S.-Gov. Gordon,
of Georgia, addressed $500 people at the
Highland house this evening for two
hours. He said of the rebel flags at
Macon that there were about a dozen
and $4,000 stars and stripes; that some
people were so cOlor-blind that they
only saw the poor little Confederate
flags. In reference to cheering jeff
Davis, the speaker said that he had
done no worse than himself, and should
he turn his back ON the decrepit, pale,
wounded old man? Turning to Gen.
Morgan, who sat on the platform, he
said: "You would merit the contempt
of every man if you went back on that
grand old man, Abraham Lincoln.' He
apolOgiZed for the South going into the
war, as they were educated in the doc
trlne OF state rights. He claimed that
the negro vote in Georgia in all state
elections, but did not care to vote in ma
tlonal ones, as he had no desire to per-
petuate the rule of the carpet bag
gers" who had robbed him.
Vindicating the claim of eX-rebels to
loyalty, Gov. Gordon said:
In the great city of Augusta, ON an occa-
sion when we net to do honor to our dead
comrades about their graves, to cover them
with fragrant flowers, / said this, pointing to
the banner OF my country which hung over
head: Here hangs above us the flag of this
union; let us honor it as an emblem of free
dom, of equality, and of unity, remembering
that there is not a star on its blue field which
is not made brighter by the light reflected
from Southern skies; not white line in its
folds but is made whittier and purer by that
South,s lncorruptible record in office; not
one OF Its crimson stripes that is not deeper
and richer from the Southern blood shed in
its defense in every war with foreign powers
am not here to talk new doctrines. / want
to say to you again that before the guns had
ceased their terrible roar at AppomattoX /
began this style of talk, and in the
South, in the senate, in Boston, in Charleston
across the Atlantic. everywhere, have been
appealing for peace and unity and concord
herit. [Applause]. But, my. friends, 1 am
afraid am talking too long [Cries of mo go
ONT. Well, I will talk, will come to some
more things to talk of to you. Let me men
some effect, presume in this state, sought to
be fixed upon the Northern mind to win
votes against the South: Let us. see how
much there is in it. The charge is that
Ws the tSep people and have
These people were in slavery, how they got
there 1t is not necessary for me to say to-
night. history will tell you about that. We
found it in our midst; it came to US as an
institution; we loved those negroes. Do you
believe that? Let me give you the facts
about it. We love them, and why? They
We're part of our household; the negro boys
the plaEmates of my youth. The only fights
that I can recall that l had in my youth
were battles for insults. as conceived them
to be, to my colored playmates around me.
Applause) On my own place to-day, out in
the country, there is not one white soul, not
one. My furniture, my lands. my all, is in
their hands to-day, and has been ever since
have been governor and was while was in
the senate, in the hands of colored
servitors. Among them is the old '.mama"
(pardon the expression), as we call her, now
nearing ninety years of age. Upon her
bosom slept seventy years ago the mother of
every one of my children, and later still, my
grandchildren, four generations, the mem
ories of all lowering around that dear old
form: Why. sir, if you could have seen the
woman when she was called to
the bedside of that old black woman few
weeks ago,when the old mamma was lying
been moved to tears. They have in their
possession-these black people-all have in
the world, and l feel as absolutely secure at
this moment as though l were down there
watching their every act. How comes this?
Did we oppress them when they
were slavesf 1t was law as
inexorable as the law of the Medes and
Persians that the man who treated his slaves
unkindly was debarred from decent society,"
lApplausel. Is that so? Well, let us come to
the proof. We went to war some years ago.
and some of you will remember something
about it, We had fights. Everybody knew
lnfnl tod IL
be made free men and free women, and they
knew it. They wanted to be free. Oh. yes,
there is no doubt about that. They longed for
their freedom. Were they oppressed?
struck for their freedom when they could
The North enlisted, and was justified in do
ing so. few regiments of blacks to fight
against us. In the old South, if we had pro-
claimed their freedom at the beginning of
that war, we could have enlisted every one of
them to man in cur defense [Applause1